Study on regional characteristics of soybean production in China from a temporal and spatial perspective

Abstract

Being the country of origin of soybean, China was once the biggest producer of the world, and has become the largest importer by now. Various regions of China are seeing profound changes of soybean production. By analyzing the changes of soybean producing areas in China from 1978 to 2017, this article revealed the characteristics of soybean’s spatial variation in terms of the planting area and yield per unit area in the four decades in China and comprehensively explained the present situation and future potential growth of soybean production in China based on soybean growth characteristics and the resources in various regions. The results show that: (1) Since the Reform and Opening Up, the traditional main producing areas still maintain their principal part but show certain changes of geographical distribution; (2) The regional distribution of soybean production shows an overall trend of “concentrated over vast areas and dispersed in small areas”; (3) The planting areas of soybean are increasing steadily in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, He’nan and Anhui, while those are decreasing rapidly in Huang-Huai-Hai area and the southern area.